Six bilateral series should be played between India and Pakistan till 2023

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Shaharyar Khan has reportedly held a fruitful discussion with his counterpart BCCI president Anurag Thakur to reignite the possibility of resuming bilateral ties at neutral venues.

A reliable source in the PCB claims, Shaharyar Khan sat with BCCI president Anurag Thakur on the sidelines of the ICC meetings in Edinburgh this week and among other agendas, raised the issue of resuming bilateral ties.

“A proposal has been floated that it is about time that the two boards worked out a proper calendar for bilateral series at neutral venues,” the source said.

The proposal stated the two countries should involve in a full bilateral series every two years.

“The PCB chief said Pakistan would be willing to play in India when it was the turn of the BCCI to host the series. While when it was Pakistan’s turn to host the series it would be held at a neutral venue finalised by consensus,” the source added.

And latest reports confirm, both the board supremos agreed that they have to talk to their governments to get the required clearance for a full bilateral series sometime in late 2016 or 2017.

“Shaharyar made it clear that Pakistan had suffered the loss of revenues in millions because of India’s refusal to play a proper bilateral series since 2007 and it was the time the two boards reached a proper agreement on this with the involvement of the ICC,” he said.

Although Pakistan visited India for a short one-day series in December 2012 there has been no full series since Pakistan last toured India in 2007.

PCB had earlier tried to convince BCCI to honor an MOU signed between the two neighboring boards in 2014 when Najam Sethi was head of the PCB. The MOU stated Pakistan will host India for a bilateral series in the UAE in late 2015 but BCCI strictly informed they couldn’t play without clearance from its government.

The source said when Shaharyar Khan moved the proposal in the ICC board meeting for a special fund to be set-up to compensate for international teams not touring the country since 2009 he spoke in detail about the losses also suffered by Pakistan because of India’s refusal to honor the MOU.

According to the MOU, the two countries are scheduled to play six bilateral series from 2015 to 2023.

The source claimed Shahryar Khan also discussed regarding the plans to stage a mini IPL in the UAE by BCCI and hoped it would not clash directly with any home series of Pakistan or the Pakistan Super League.